Sunday, December 17, 2006

Cloak, dagger, bluff, blackmail, and Tony's nervous protector

"Since a London jury may show scant respect for the ethical standards of politicians, the police might be reasonably confident in a prosecution. Goldsmith can stop them, as he has just stopped the SFO. He could rule that the 'public interest' in the dignity of his good friend the prime minister outweighs the mere rule of law. He is indeed chief state prosecutor but he is also Blair’s defence lawyer, not to mention final arbiter of whether a criminal case comes to court. Nor need he give any reasons for his decision. As Tam Dalyell once said, to understand this government you should read not a constitutional textbook but a memoir of the court of Louis XIV." —Simon Jenkins